Elk Internet based monitoring

[acheslow]

I've been using my Comcast VoIP line without an ABN adapter for about 8 months and have never missed a signal. In fact, I've been impressed how quickly and reliably the Elk communicates with NextAlarm every time the system is armed, disarmed, etc. Would I gain anything by going direct over IP?

 

[karib]

Dan,

I'll toss my hat in the ring for the testing. I'm in the deployment/install stage and have an account already, so it's not a critical system yet.

Joel

 

[Dan_NA]

I've been using my Comcast VoIP line without an ABN adapter for about 8 months and have never missed a signal. In fact, I've been impressed how quickly and reliably the Elk communicates with NextAlarm every time the system is armed, disarmed, etc. Would I gain anything by going direct over IP?

Well, we can't guarantee reliability, so we might not receive every signal, or your system might be retrying every signal several times before it finally successfully communicates, but if it works, it works.

What I would recommend you do is get a telephone test set (butt set) and listen to the signals being transmitted, to make sure they are always getting through on the first try. If you hear the same sequence of tones several times in a row, then the alarm panel is retrying the signal and eventually is going to fail to communicate. If every sequence of tones is unique (i.e. a different signal), then it is getting through on the first try. I can't guarantee it will stay that way in that case, but again, if it works and you're comfortable with it, go for it.

 

[dwayne]

I too am interested in this topic. I am setting up a new office, and right now I have only a dedicated loop DSL (no phone line) going to the suite and plan to add a 2nd Vonage account for this office. I definitely need a security system, and will make some investment in an IP video monitoring and recording system.

The NextAlarm.com web site mentions NextView (video surveillance) but other than the home page blurb I don't see any other information. Can you tell me what NextView is and how it works?

-Dwayne (TouchTronix)

 

[dwayne]

Actually, now that I have given it some thought (thanks for the topic), what I would like to do is use broadband to connect my home security system to my office as an extended zone.

I recall from my Integrator days that some products, like HAI, allowed a remote zone for something like a guest house, to be armed and disarmed from the main house, etc. I think broadband would be perfect for this.


-Dwayne

 

[DeLicious]

sign me up as one of the interested parties as well... i have a nextalarm account and elk already, so can be up and running for whatever testing you need in the time it takes me to program it in elkrp.

 

[IVB]

Yep, ditto, of course that's cuz I really want to do the 2way voice thingey which I don't think is possible over the phone.

BTW, can the regular landline be a backup if the internet connection is down? Wouldn't want to lose security because the power went out and my DSL modem is down, but the Elk battery still has juice left.

 

[shenandoah75]

Now IVB, i see all those $1000's you've spent on your systems and you're telling me the cable modem/switch are not on a dedicated UPS (or elk power supply)?

 

[IVB]

They are on a UPS, but it's only a 30-ish minute one. The Elk, OTOH, has the huge-ass motorcycle battery and the regular battery backing it up, so it'll run for much longer.

 

[HoustonFirefox]

Until NextAlarm or another company comes up with a way to monitor the Elk:

I have my Elk running two batteries and all of my networking equipment has a dedicated UPS that will last about 1 hour. I simply have the Elk send an email to [email protected] (which is my cell phone) and I receive an SMS message every time my kids disarm the system or it goes off. If I am home and the kids come in, I usually receive the message usually before they finish closing the door after disarming the system.

I like this approach since I always have my cell with me and can quickly determine if anyone should be in the house so *I* can call the local security patrol quicker than the monitoring company can call me, confirm it is a valid alarm and then have them call the security company or police.

This happened recently when my son did not close the front door tightly and the wind blew it open about 30 minutes after he left. Hello Alarm & SMS message! I was out of town at the moment and knew he had left for the day when I received the alarm. I immediately called the security patrol and they were in the house inside of 2 minutes and confirmed that one of the cats had gone in as well. Our security patrol is staffed by off-duty Texas State Troopers as well as Houston Police Dept officers. The homeowners association provides the patrol vehicle and the cops love it because they make over twice as much patrolling the neighborhood as they do on thier "day" job. The homeowners like it because of the ultra-fast response and the fact that they carry big guns.

Consumer reports did a study of the various alarm companies awhile back and found that, on average, it took in excess of 20 minutes for the police to respond - mainly because the monitoring company was slow or spent too much time trying to verify the alarm. A lot can happen in 20 minutes and I'd like to actually capture the bad guy in the act. This approach has already lead to the apprehension of 7 home burglars in the last year (various houses) and our crime rate has dropped significantly.

Naw, I'll eschew the $14.95 a month fee for now in favor of a free alternative that is much faster.

 

[IVB]

You're lucky that you can get those private security patrols.

Don't try doing that living 1/2 mile from Berkeley; the tree-huggers will scream at you. They certainly did when I brought it up as a response to the rash of burglaries and armed robberies around here. I've never seen people more worried about others rights than their own safety.

 

[Digger]

Until NextAlarm or another company comes up with a way to monitor the Elk:

I have my Elk running two batteries and all of my networking equipment has a dedicated UPS that will last about 1 hour. I simply have the Elk send an email to [email protected] (which is my cell phone) and I receive an SMS message every time my kids disarm the system or it goes off. If I am home and the kids come in, I usually receive the message usually before they finish closing the door after disarming the system.

I like this approach since I always have my cell with me and can quickly determine if anyone should be in the house so *I* can call the local security patrol quicker than the monitoring company can call me, confirm it is a valid alarm and then have them call the security company or police.

This happened recently when my son did not close the front door tightly and the wind blew it open about 30 minutes after he left. Hello Alarm & SMS message! I was out of town at the moment and knew he had left for the day when I received the alarm. I immediately called the security patrol and they were in the house inside of 2 minutes and confirmed that one of the cats had gone in as well. Our security patrol is staffed by off-duty Texas State Troopers as well as Houston Police Dept officers. The homeowners association provides the patrol vehicle and the cops love it because they make over twice as much patrolling the neighborhood as they do on thier "day" job. The homeowners like it because of the ultra-fast response and the fact that they carry big guns.

Consumer reports did a study of the various alarm companies awhile back and found that, on average, it took in excess of 20 minutes for the police to respond - mainly because the monitoring company was slow or spent too much time trying to verify the alarm. A lot can happen in 20 minutes and I'd like to actually capture the bad guy in the act. This approach has already lead to the apprehension of 7 home burglars in the last year (various houses) and our crime rate has dropped significantly.

Naw, I'll eschew the $14.95 a month fee for now in favor of a free alternative that is much faster.

I have my ELK setup the same way bascially and it emails my cell phone on arm/disarm/alarm etc. It is sooooooo fast I am not 5 feet from the door and I get the email when I arm away. Its a huge help with the kids as you mention. And its FREE!!!!

Any chance those Texas State troopers want to moon light in NY??? We have lots of bad guys for them to have fun with.

 

[WayneW]

The homeowners association provides the patrol vehicle and the cops love it because they make over twice as much patrolling the neighborhood as they do on thier "day" job.

Naw, I'll eschew the $14.95 a month fee for now in favor of a free alternative that is much faster.

Unless you have NO homeowners association fee, I doubt your protection is "free".

 

[HoustonFirefox]

Wayne,

I agree with you that I pay about $250 a year in HOA dues, so the patrol is not "free" in any sense of the word but I'd rather pay $250 a year to have them around than $25,000 in stolen property NOT to have them around

I hate homeowners associations in general, but our neighborhood recently booted the company that managed it, kicked the overpriced attorney out and became self-managed with our own board of directors. We now have private security, a fair process, a bigger pool and a new pavilion for HOA meetings while saving over $450,000 a year compared to the way it USED to be run. More neighborhoods need to do this. Corruption is rampant with the companies and attorneys managing HOAs.

 

[ultrajones]

A word of caution when using the Elk M1XEP to send email:

Sending an email alarm notification using the Elk M1XEP is not very reliable. There is no message queueing, retry or logging mechanism so if the email fails (for whatever reason), you'll never know it.

Examples of when an email won't be sent:
- SMTP server fails to resolve via DNS.
- SMTP server connection times out.
- SMTP server returns a 4.x error (temp fail).
- SMTP server returns a 5.x error (perm fail).

I think a warning message should be listed in the manual and the ElkRP software to warn users that the email functionality of the Elk M1XEP should only be used for "notification convenience" instead of a means to alert you in the event of an alarm condition.

Regards,
Ultrajones